In the latest entry of my book marketing series, I talk about the strategy/tactics I employed for my latest release.
You can find my other marketing posts below:
As I've stated previously, I'm not a book marketing maven. I'm just another soul lost in the promo wilderness!
Release Day
June 19, 2024 was the release day for The Wrath of Monsters. It also happened to be the third day or so after the fam moved into a new house. Busy times meant I didn't have as much opportunity to usher my latest book into the world. Still, I think the release went pretty well for a small press book.
My Strategy
From previous releases, I've continued to seek out editorial reviews. I don't know how many book sales these lead to, but I think a track record of excellent editorial reviews indicates you have literary chops and can help get your books into libraries.
I also continued seeking out opportunities for influencer marketing. As with my previous releases, I was fortunate to land a Big Idea essay on John Scalzi's website. I even received a lovely e-mail from a father who bought the first book for his daughter.
Hi. I saw your post on John Scalzi’s site and just ordered your book because my teenaged daughter is named Allison Lee. She reads a lot of fantasy (mostly epic and progression) and wants to be a writer herself. Good luck with your new book!
That message made my authorial year!
Here are the influencer sites I leveraged.
The Whatever (https://whatever.scalzi.com/2024/06/19/the-big-idea-dan-rice-3/) - I've said it before, and I will repeat it: If you have a new speculative fiction release, this is the site to get it on. The site is widely read, and the author has a huge social media following. Scalzi has specific requirements that can be found here.
Cat Rambo's The World Remains Mysterious (https://www.kittywumpus.net/blog/2024/06/19/guest-post-inspiration-and-trying-to-understand-otherness-with-dan-rice/) - I've been lucky enough to have release day articles appear twice on Cat's website. She's interested in various topics ranging from cooking to diversity issues.
Kids' Book Review (http://www.kids-bookreview.com/2024/05/guest-post-dan-rice-on-less-reluctant.html) - I figure anywhere where children's books are the subject is a good place for a YA author to have an article appear.
If you read any of those articles, you probably noticed none are outright promos, but all mention The Allison Lee Chronicles.
This year, I leaned;k heavily on my newsletter list. I sent out the newsletter monthly and included info about The Wrath of Monster in each one, such as:
Cover reveal
Blurb reveal
Release date announcement
Sent the newsletter on release day
The newsletter is also the primary way I've recruited a street team. I can't claim to have a huge street team, but the membership has grown with each release.
I also continue leveraging my blog. Along with pure promo posts, I enjoy posting character interviews. I'm unsure how effective these are, but they are fun to write.
For this release, I stuck with N.N. Light. I think they do an excellent job creating positive buzz for your book at a reasonable price.
What I dropped
Recently, I watched a webinar by Bryan Cohen about leveraging your newsletter. He claims the newsletter is far more effective than blog tours for promoting new releases and your backlist. As this corresponded with my experiences on previous releases, I opted not to do a blog tour. I don't believe this had any impact on sales.
Conclusion
Cultivating influencers to promote your books is still the most cost-effective book marketing tactic.
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